(a) Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to thermoelectric generators (TEGs). In particular, a TEG sleeve for a catalytic converter is disclosed that converts exhaust gas heat into electrical energy.
(b) Background Art
Thermoelectric generators (TEGs) are devices that are capable of converting heat into electrical energy. TEGs can be employed to improve operational efficiency of a myriad of applications. One such application is automobiles, where TEGs may be utilized to recover usable energy from automobile waste heat. More specifically, a TEG may convert waste heat, e.g., exhaust heat, in an internal combustion engine (IC) into electricity. For example, a catalytic converter in a vehicle's exhaust system may become very hot during use of the vehicle due to the thermal energy present in the exhaust gas. This electricity may then be utilized by other components within the automobile, which can increase the overall fuel economy and improve vehicle emissions, e.g., a charge for a battery, electrical components, etc.
Current automobile TEGs, however, suffer from drawbacks which can hinder the device's potential usefulness. For example, current automobile TEGs are typically complex in their assembly and are difficult to remove. As a result, modifying the engine design may be necessary to accommodate the TEG and repairing and/or replacing the TEG can be expensive and time-consuming In addition, these modifications also typically prevent older vehicles from being retrofitted with a TEG. Therefore, there is currently a need for a TEG which is highly efficient, yet has a minimal size and weight, is easily removable, and has an assembly of minimal complexity.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.